Pitfalls and Limitations in the Statistical Analysis of High-Frequency Imaged Data

Summary Many times, the value of a seismic imaging tool is assessed by comparing the results with borehole data. This is usually a very good concept – after all, the basis for comparison is the “ground truth”, i.e. a synthetic seismogram modeled from sonic and density logs recorded in the borehole. There are, however, exceptions to the validity of this comparison. In this tutorial, we focus on presenting our experience that we face to the geophysical community. Our goal is that from the details provided, the community can appreciate such pitfalls encountered in the statistical analysis of high-frequency imaged seismic data, in the hope that such pitfalls and limitations can be carefully considered when performing many relevant key processes: well ties, wavelet extractions, seismic inversions, velocity model building flows using existing wells and so on – such consideration for greater potential impact and enhanced seismic data processing applications.